3. Professors are eager students. Faculty members are known to be reluctant to change their teaching approaches. So the original goal was to rope five or six professors into volunteering for the spring experiment. But 54 professors said they wanted in. "Some of them were so passionate about it that they actually sent me petitions," said Mr. Hubbard, clearly pleased by the interest. "They got all of the faculty in the department to sign it and say, You've got to do us."

The professors said they wanted to try something new, and argued that the experience would help students. "In my courses we talk about preparing for the future just about every single day," said Allison Strong, a marketing instructor who taught from an e-book this spring. "This is one thing they can do to learn to adapt to change."